


Every Life I Save You

by Joan963z



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:34:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27510886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joan963z/pseuds/Joan963z
Summary: Spike has died to save the world and deserves a reward. But the cosmos needs champions, so he is offered a chance to save a Buffy, in an alternate reality, a Buffy that is alone and being stalked by evil. Spike accepts the offer and is sent back as a sentinel, committed to the one reason for his existence, in every life he will save her.*****************************
Relationships: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg, Spike/Buffy Summers
Comments: 23
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who are unfamiliar with the TV show ‘The Sentinel’. :  
> A sentinel is a human who has five hyper senses, he is also more muscular and a bit faster than the ordinary human male. I tend to think of them as very vampire like. Sentinel’s have a biological priority to protect the people in their territory. They do have a weakness, they need an empathic partner, called a guide, to keep them from losing balance and dying or turning evil. Buffy is Spike’s Guide.   
> *******************************************************************  
> I want to thank my wonderful beta Evelynne Hancock for her feedback, encouragement, and plot discussions. She makes my writing better.  
> ********************************************************************  
> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, ect. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or the producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I make no monetary profit. I am only keeping the fandoms of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Sentinel alive in our hearts.

Chapter 1 

Bethany Summers walked into the Rainier Guide School, pulling her suitcase behind her. She really didn’t want to be here, but it was the law and she didn’t have any place else to go.

When the government passed a law that required mandatory testing for the guide gene, she was only ten years old. She didn’t know that she was a potential guide and that it would turn her life upside down just three years later. It all started with a letter that the high school principal sent home, a letter her father just couldn’t accept.

Bethany had always been his trophy daughter. A beautiful, smart little girl that gave him bragging rights to impress all his friends and colleagues; someone he would see married well and raised the social standing of the Summers name. He pictured himself meeting wealthy, well-connected men, that would give him opportunities he didn’t have. Hank Summers was ambitious, and he hung that ambition on the back of his daughter…until his hopes were crushed. 

Joyce, Bethany’s mother, tried to calm her husband, but his rage would not be placated.

“Why should I waste my money raising that kid and get nothing back for it. She’ll be claimed by a damn sentinel! He won’t just be fucking her, he’ll be fucking me, too. She might as well get pregnant and marry some scumbag pizza delivery boy. At least if I had a son, he’d be carrying on my name! A girl doesn’t even do that,” he spat, as if the very thought of having a daughter was poisonous.

Things only got worse from there and life became hell for Bethany. Hank began hiding his assets and, six months later, he cleaned out the Summers’ joint bank accounts and disappeared, leaving Joyce and Bethany Anne with nothing.

Joyce spiraled into an emotional freefall and began drinking. She spouted a constant litany of how men were a bunch of bastards that only cared about having a warm, moist place to stick their dicks.

“Women are nothing, but the floor men walk on,” was a favorite rant. “Your father never wanted a kid. He almost left me when he found out I was pregnant. You know why he didn’t? His boss told him he was moved to the fast track for a promotion now that he was a family man. You weren’t a daughter to him; you were a thing to be used.”

The financial problems meant the Summers had to move and Bethany had to change schools. Her marks fell and her new teachers didn’t care. She would be a guide; she didn’t need college. The popular kids in high school shunned her. She found that teenage boys did, indeed, want nothing but a place to stick their dick. Her social life became non-existent.

Fights with her mother escalated. Joyce, during one of her drunken rants, told Bethany that her father was right about not needing to waste money on a daughter that gave nothing back. On her seventeenth birthday, her mother met her at the door as she came home from the library and told her she had exactly one more year to live under her roof. After that, she had to get out. There were many nights that Bethany cried herself to sleep.

Her mother didn’t attend her graduation ceremony. She felt abandoned. That’s when she decided she was no longer going to be Bethany. That was the name her parents had given her and since they disowned her she was disowning them and changing her name to Buffy. It was surprisingly easy to do. She filed papers with the court, no lawyer required, and it was done. 

@@@@@@@@@

Ethan Rayne was a man without a conscience. As far as he was concerned, everything in the world existed to serve him and his interests. He was a man that lusted after power and profit. Profit was relatively easy to come by, but power, now that was the gem in the gilded crown.

Two years ago, he had maneuvered himself into the directorship of Rainier Guide School. The plan was to find a guide in which he could develop a new skill; specifically, hazard detection. There were sentinels that would pay dearly for it and he would hold the pattern. All he needed was the right brat. He decided it had to be a kid with a high empathic rating, but without family ties. He thought in two years there would be one that was an orphan or came out of foster care, but maddingly, there had been none.

He looked through the list of brats that were entering guide school in the fall. Then he saw her: Buffy Summers. She had a high empathic rating but gave no address or phone number as an emergency contact. She would have to be interviewed, to be sure she was a safe bet for him, but she had the best candidate to come across his desk since he took the job. It was about time for his plan to start to pay off.

@@@@@@@@@@

Spike laughed as holy flames consumed his vampiric body. Then, white walls formed around him, and a glowing woman floated before him at eye level.

"So," Spike asked, thinking he was headed for hell, "are you here to inflict eternal torment on me?"

"No," she said. "I don't do eternal torment. It's boring."

He tilted his head to the side and squinted at the strange entity."Then, who are you?"

“My name is Candle; I’m your Cosmic Intervention Caseworker. You’ve been declared a champion. For your selfless sacrifice, dying to save the world, you have earned the right to decide what your next incarnation will be.”

Spike blinked at the strange entity. "Bloody hell, I didn’t see that coming. Does this mean I can return as a human champion with all my champion abilities? I want to go back and help Buffy fight evil.”

“Tome,” Candle called.

A large, black leather bound, book appeared and hovered in front of Candle, the pages turned as if blowing in a breeze, but Spike felt none. When the pages stopped moving, Candle read from the tome. “There is a world where an evil is rising. The Buffy soul aspect there needs healing and protection. She is alone. The evil plans to enslave her for its own use. If you are willing to take on the responsibility of that life, we could place you there as an adult sentinel, much like the monks did when they inserted Dawn into Sunnydale.”

“That’s not my Buffy,” Spike pointed out. “I want to go back to Sunnydale, that’s my home now.”

“Your Sunnydale doesn’t exist anymore, It was destroyed when you channeled the cleansing holy light through the amulet, that entrance to hell has been closed. The Sunnydale Buffy has chosen to retire from slaying. She has earned her rest. As for the Buffy of the life we offer you, not being your Buffy, she is. A soul is like a hologram, each body contains the same soul. Both Buffys are the Buffy you love. It is only the life experience that differs. The Buffy that is alone and needs you is the same soul that you held through the night and felt close to, the same soul that you gave strength to.”

“I don’t see how the Buffy you’re sending me to can be the same if she’s not a slayer.”

“She will not be a slayer of vampires, but she is a warrior for the light, just as your sentinel self will still be a warrior and a champion. I need your answer, Champion.”

“If I’m going to be a bloody sentinel, at least tell me what it is.”

“A sentinel is the kind of human you asked to be. They have five enhanced senses and are stronger than the common male human. Their abilities are very similar to that of a vampire. However, sentinels need a guide to keep them stable. In that world, Buffy is a guide. There are no vampires or slayers. It is a very different reality then the one you just came from. Answer me now Champion! Are you willing to accept the life placement and the responsibilities that go with it?”

Spike thought for a moment. He knew the Buffy from Sunnydale would be okay, she had friends that loved her and she had decided that she was done. There was no place for him in her life anymore. Somehow, he knew this other Buffy needed him. The knowing was stronger than just being told by Candle. He could feel it, she was alone. He couldn’t abandon her to evil. “I don’t care what world she's in. I love her and I’d follow her back into hell to keep her safe.”

Candle nodded and a quill appeared and began writing in the tome as she spoke. “Your name in this world will be William Thurblood Spikeman. You’ll keep your champion name of Spike. Because you are being placed into this reality instead of being born into it, we will not be able to erase your memories. They will, however, be placed into your subconscious. You will keep your fighting skills and your educational knowledge, along with life lessons learned, but you won’t remember this conversation. Are you ready?”

Spike took a deep breath and nodded.

@@@@@@@@@@

Two years after Buffy’s graduation from guide school  
**********

Detective William Spikeman said goodbye to his friends at the retirement party.Truth be told, he was glad to be leaving. The music and loud talking had been playing havoc with his hearing. He could hear the band playing at the wedding reception right down the hall and the guests singing “The Bride Feeds the Groom.” He tried to dial down his hearing, but only succeeded in turning up his sense of smell. He cursed his lack of control and his lack of a guide.  
He went to the coatroom and handed the clerk his tag. It was when she handed him his coat that he smelled it - guide!

"Let me see the coat that was next to mine," he told the clerk.

"I can't give it to you without the tag," she said.

Spike pulled out his badge, identifying him as Sentinel Detective William   
Spikeman and the clerk complied. Spike ran his thumb in circles over the soft  
material for a moment before bringing the coat to his face and inhaling a large whiff.

"Guide," he murmured and turned to walk down the hall toward the wedding reception.

"Hey!" the coatroom clerk yelled. "You can't take the coat away from here."

"It belongs to my guide," Spike said. "I'll make sure she gets it."

As he approached the reception, his eyes changed from their usual lapis blue to the dark sapphire of a sentinel on a mission. Standing just inside the doorway, Spike tried to pick up his guide's scent. She was in the room, but the scent was too diluted by the number of guests and their movement around the room for him to get a precise location.

He walked over to the nearest table and began sniffing the women.

A drunken man at the table took offense. "Hey buddy! What do you think you're doing?"

His wife pulled at his sleeve. “Shush, that’s a sentinel.”

Spike pulled out his police badge again. "Do any of you know who this coat belongs to?"

No one knew, so the sentinel continued onto the next table.

By the time he questioned the fifth table, the feel of the room had changed. The laughter and loud conversations had turned to whispers as the information spread that a sentinel was in the room and he was searching for someone.

Buffy Summers looked up and saw that the blonde man with a sentinel's square jaw, carrying her coat and sniffing women, was only two tables away.

She stood quietly from her seat, making sure to stay out of his line of vision as she left the room and walked swiftly to her car. She dug through her purse for her keys and dropped them before she finally got the door opened.

In her haste, she forgot to turn off the alarm; the blaring noise startled her and by the time she got into the car, she was shaking so much she had trouble getting the key into the ignition. She grabbed the wheel and took a deep cleansing breath to calm herself. When her shaking stopped, she was able to get the car started.

Spike stood over an empty chair that was still bathed in his guide’s scent. He touched it; it was still warm. Hearing the car alarm, he knew: his guide was on the run.

He ran out the fire exit, arriving at the parking lot as his guide pulled away. Spike dialed up his vision and memorized her plate number.

Buffy glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw the sentinel looking after her. She knew then she couldn’t chance going home. She was desperate; she didn't want to bond with a sentinel.

"Three days," she whispered to herself. "Just hold out for three days. By then, he'll know it's no good and he'll give up."

She stopped at an ATM across town and took out the limit of her money, then headed for the highway. She was exhausted and could hardly keep her eyes open when she found a Residence Inn and paid cash for a one-night stay. She had to show her ID so she couldn’t use a false name but nothing could be done about that. 

Spike ran her plates to get her name and address. He requested her files from guide school and called her apartment complex to make sure someone was there to let him in.

There had to be a reason she was running. Guides knew better; a fleeing guide meant that a sentinel was close behind. 

The super let Spike into the apartment. He stepped in and scanned the living room. He could sense something strange, but it took a moment to put his finger on it. There were no pictures on the wall. No pictures of people anywhere. She had a bookcase full of books, a TV, a disc player and a computer.

He looked through her CD collection first. She had eclectic taste in music. Spike smiled; so did he.  
Then he turned on the computer and scanned the bookcase while he waited for it to boot up. He found her taste in reading to be even more varied than her taste in music.

When he sat down at the computer, he found that it stored her password, so he had no trouble getting into her email. There was nothing personal, only ads for shopping online.

Spike signed into the police network and brought up Buffy's guide school records.

Buffy Summers (First name legally changed from Bethany)  
Identified as a potential guide at age 13.  
Enrolled in guide school upon graduation from high school at age 17.  
Test results:  
I.Q.: 129  
Empathic level: 9.1  
Guide has demonstrated healing capabilities.

Spike whistled. The empathic scale went from 0 to 10. Anything over an 8.0 was quite rare.

Telepathic level: 8.9/2.7  
Guide has demonstrated a high ability, 8.9, for hazard detection; however, her telepathic level drops to 2.7 when faced with mundane tasks such as card reading. It is believed this dichotomy developed as a result of her history of abandonment by her family.

Spike re-read the last sentence and then looked around the room. It all fell into place. Someone had hurt his guide, so badly that she no longer had the ability to trust. That's why there were no pictures of family and friends in her apartment. That's why she ran.

Spike put out an APB on Buffy stressing the fact that she was a guide, rather than a criminal.

* Do not approach. Monitor and notify Lake View Sentinel Detective William Spikeman of guide's whereabouts. *

He knew no police officer would risk incurring a sentinel's wrath by risking injury to a guide.

Next, he logged onto the Sentinel/Guide Alliance site and filed an Intention to Bond Certificate. He was surprised he was required to sign a waiver, stating that the guide had been declared unfit to work as a guide. He signed the waiver, even though Buffy Summers didn’t scent as unfit. He wouldn’t abandon her like her family had done. If he had to spend time reassuring her, he would gladly do it.

Now, he was legal. He didn't have to worry about getting a search warrant for her financial records or relying on assumptions that there was already one on file. The law was on his side and he could call on any help he needed to find the runaway.

He put out a BOLO for Buffy’s car and then went into the bedroom and laid down on the bed. The scent of her was strong and he moaned. He wanted her, needed her. He reached out and pulled a pillow covered with a bright red pillowcase to him. He brought his knees up and curled around it in a fetal position and forced the sentinel within to wait.  
**********

Spike’s body ached for his guide. Something he hadn’t anticipated was physical pain. He had her scent, but he needed to know how she felt, the sounds she made, how she tasted. He wanted to drink her in with his eyes. He needed more than the small picture of her in the guide school records. He couldn't just lie there. He had to do something.

He got up and started to pace. The detective in him knew the best thing to do is wait right where he was. Any information would come through the computer and he couldn't leave until he knew where to go.

The sentinel in him wanted to run and track down his guide, wanted to find her and claim her as his own. With an iron will, he tried to force the sentinel to calm, but the demand for his guide grew and Spike began to tear through the apartment, looking for anything that could ease his demanding senses.

The bathroom proved to be helpful; he found her toothbrush and stuck it into his mouth. There was a slight taste of toothpaste, but the taste of his guide was there, too. He pulled the hair from her hairbrush and rubbed it between his fingers. It was soft and calming.

He returned to the bedroom, where the smell of her was strongest there. He curled around the pillow again and forced himself to meditate.

The white tiger, Spike's animal spirit guide, came after only a few minutes. The blue-eyed cat gave a rumbling growl as it paced back and forth in Spike's meditating mind.

Spike's consciousness stood up and followed the large cat as it ran through the night. It stopped briefly to sniff at an ATM machine and rose on his hind legs, putting his front paws onto the machine. He looked at Spike and gave a puff sound before loping out onto the highway. The tiger's long, graceful strides sped them along too fast for Spike to read the green signs.

Finally, the tiger slowed and turned into a parking lot. A large sign read Cascade Residence Inn. The big cat padded its way into the back parking lot where it stopped sniffed and rubbed its cheek against a car that Spike recognized as belonging to his guide. The cat walked over to a door and the building dissolved and re-solidified around them. They stood in front of door 227 guarded by a green eyed cougar.

"She's in there," Spike said.

The cougar got up and circled Spike sniffing as it went. When it came full circle it rose up and put its huge paws on Spike’s shoulders. Green eyes met blue. The big cat gave a low growl.

“I’m here to help her, I won’t abandon her to evil.”

Satisfied, the cougar licked Spike’s face. It was surprisingly wet and warm for a vision. The two cats laid down beside each other and began a deep rumbling purr. 

Spike came out of his meditation and went to the computer. The pain he had felt was forgotten now that he was taking action to find his guide. He logged onto Residence Inn’s website and confirmed that the city did indeed have an inn located in Cascade. He called the Cascade Police, and, after some annoying delays, he was put through to a sleepy Sentinel Liaison Officer, Detective Jim Ellison.

"It's nearly one AM. This better be good," Jim grumbled.

"This is Sentinel Detective William Spikeman of Lake View. I have an APB out on a runaway guide and I just received an anonymous tip that she is holed up at the Residence Inn, room 227. I'm sorry to wake you this early, but I was told all sentinel/guide police activities have to go through you. I need an officer to confirm the tip."

"Sorry for the gruff greeting, Sentinel Spikeman," Jim said. "Is she your guide?"

"I hold an Intent to Bond Certificate."

"If she's there, I'll have an officer pick her up. We can..."

"No!" Spike said. "I don't want her emotionally traumatized. Just confirm her presence and put a boot on her car. With a state police escort, I can be there within an hour. With any luck, she'll still be asleep until then."

"I understand your concerns, sentinel," Jim said, trying to calm the obviously stressed stranger. The last thing he needed was a rouge sentinel, in a bonding thrall, running around Cascade. "But your guide is a runaway. I'd say she is already going through emotional trauma."

Blair spoke up. "Let me talk to him, Jim. Traumatized guides and their sentinels are my domain."

Jim was relieved to hand the phone to Blair. If anyone could calm a sentinel on the edge, it was Blair.  
"Hello, this is Guide Blair Sandburg. I'll be glad to help in any way I can. I've often worked with emotionally stressed guides."

"We're wasting time, Guide Sandburg. I need to confirm her presence at the inn."

"Of course, we will do that for you, sentinel. What's your guide's name?"

"Buffy Summers."

"Buffy? I know Buffy. Hold on, sentinel." Blair looked at Jim, not bothering to cover the phone as he spoke. He wanted the stressed-out sentinel on the other end to know exactly how things were being handled. "Get an officer to confirm the guide's there, but make sure he doesn't approach her."

Then, he got back on the phone with Spike. "I'll talk to Buffy, myself and find out what's going on. We knew each other at guide school. I promise you; we'll get to the bottom of this as gently as possible. Can you tell me exactly what happened before she ran?"

Spike felt better as he told the story, something about Guide Sandburg reassured him and he found himself agreeing to let Sandburg talk to his guide. As Blair calmly reassured Spike, Jim came back into the bedroom.

"She's there," he said. "It's ten minutes from here. We should get going."

"Jim just got confirmation she’s at the inn," Blair said. "We're heading over there now."

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Spike said and hung up the phone.

********* 

"So, how do you know this guide?" Jim asked, as they pulled out of the parking space.

"I went to guide school with her," Blair said in an uncharacteristically distant voice.

Jim wasn’t about to let this go. Something was bothering his guide. Something he needed to get to the bottom of. "So, you were friends?"

Blair looked out the truck window, his voice held a sadness that Jim rarely heard from his guide. “Not really. We knew each other. She was always civil to everyone, but she didn’t let anyone close."

"You seem spooked by this." The sentinel’s concern showed in Jim’s voice. 

"I am. Her popping up like this, it's..." Blair's voice trailed off.

“Do you think she came to Cascade because she needs your help?"

"I doubt it," Blair said, shaking his head. "Buffy has no reason to think I'd help her."

"Of course, you'd help her, Chief. That's what you do."

"Now, yeah," Blair said, still looking out the truck window. "But not then."

The sadness Blair was exhibiting was more than Jim could bear. He turned into a Seven Eleven parking lot, turned off the truck, and pulled Blair to him. "Tell me now, all of it, or this truck is not moving another inch."

Blair laid his head against Jim's chest. Jim's warmth was comforting and gave him the strength to look at a part of himself he didn't like to look at. When he began to speak it was soft, almost a whisper. 

"When I attended guide school, the director was Ethan Rayne. He's telepathic, but not empathic. He used to take Buffy for private "tutoring". For a long time, there were jokes about her being the director's favorite. I knew Buffy was unhappy, but I never talked to her about it. We were an unhappy bunch, forced by law to go to guide school, we all had to put our lives on hold until we graduated. I knew Buffy spent all the holidays at the school. She didn’t have contact with her family, but I never invited her to stay with me on school holidays and none of the other students invited her either."

"The Christmas before graduation, some of the students decided to play a practical joke on one of the teachers. He had this beautiful sculpture he kept on display in the classroom. I was elected to hide it. I went to a part of the school that was off limits. That's when I found the sensory deprivation tank. Do you know what that is?"

"I've heard of it," Jim said. "They’re isolation tanks, lightless and soundproof, even for a sentinel. They have salt water kept at skin temperature. When you float in it, you don’t even have input from gravity. They’re used to help unbonded sentinels when sensory spikes are out of control.”

Blair sighed. "Well, a mundane would not want to stay in one for more than ten minutes. For an empath, ten seconds is too long. I don't even want to imagine what that kind of isolation must feel like. I hid when I heard Rayne coming. I saw him lock Buffy in the tank and leave."

"Do you know how long he left her in there?" Jim asked, shocked that anyone would hurt a guide that way. He knew that solitary confinement was a torture technique.

"No, I didn't want to know. Tutoring sessions lasted for about an hour. I don't know if she was in there the whole time. I was too scared to report it. Rayne was a vindictive bastard. The students were all empathic; we all knew what he was. I was afraid I wouldn't be allowed to graduate. I was afraid he would keep me there another year and start giving me "private tutoring". It kept nagging at me though. I had nightmares about it, so, after graduation I did report it. Director Rayne resigned, but nothing ever came out about his abuse.”

"And you feel guilty for not reporting it sooner?"

"I let it go for six months."

"Not your fault, Chief," Jim said, stroking Blair's hair. "Buffy didn't report it, either."

"To whom? She had no family; never received mail, no birthday or Christmas cards. She was alone."

"She could have reported it to one of the teachers."

"I think she tried. I remember going to talk to Mr. Freedmen once before I knew about the sensory deprivation tank. When I got to the classroom, he was angry with Buffy and called her a liar. He said he didn't want to hear anymore of her made-up stories."

"Still not your fault, Chief. You were a student at the school. The adults were the ones who let Buffy down, not you."

Blair sat up and looked into Jim's eyes. "You don't get it, Jim, I knew there was something wrong, I felt it and I let it slide because it was easy, and I was scared."

Jim stroked Blair's hair. It pained him to see his guide suffering. "Chief, you're the best person I know, but you're only human. You were young and scared and you made a mistake, but you've learned from it. So now, we'll go and help her. We'll make sure she's okay and make sure this Sentinel Spikeman is the kind of sentinel that will care for his guide before we turn Buffy over to him."

"What if he's not okay?" Blair asked. "What if Spikeman lied and Buffy’s running because of something Spikeman did?"

Jim started up the truck with a shrug. "Then, we'll do whatever it takes."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

TBC. Comments appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Cascade Residence Inn

**********

Blair stopped short after turning the corner from the elevator.

“What is it, Chief?” Jim asked.

“Two animal spirit guides, lying in front of a door. One is a cougar, the other is a white tiger.”

“Are ours around, too?”

Blair looked around. “No, just Spikeman’s and Buffy’s.”

“So, whose is whose, or does it even matter?”

The tiger stood up and faded away.

“Well the tiger just left, so I’d say the cougar belongs to Buffy. If Spikeman’s spirit guide is here it means Buffy is meant to be his guide. I can’t think of any other reason for both to be here.”

“We don’t know that for sure. The tiger could be a warning,” Jim said. “We can’t stand in the hall all night. You need to talk to Buffy and make sure this Sentinel Spikeman is someone we want to turn her over to.”

Jim took Blair’s hand and interlocked their fingers; with a small tug, they began walking down the hall to room 227.

When Blair got to the door, he stopped again. He couldn’t quite reach to knock, and he certainly didn’t want to step on the spirit guide. The only thing he could think to do was to talk to it. “We honor your presence, Spirit Guide. Is there some way we may serve you?”

The cougar stood up and rubbed the side of its face against Blair’s leg, then faded away.

"Well that was ambiguous," Blair said.

"Why, what happened?"

"The cougar rubbed against me before it left. I have no idea why."

"I have enough trouble understanding guide logic. I'm not going to concern myself with animal sprit guides. We need to talk to Summers."

Blair knocked at the door of room 227. When there was no answer he knocked again and called out. "Buffy, it's Blair Sandburg. We went to guide school together. Please open the door. I want to talk to you."

There was still no answer. This time, he pounded on the door. "Buffy, if you don't open the door, the police will take it down."

“I’m coming,” Buffy yelled back.

No emotion showed on Buffy's face as she opened the door and looked at Blair. "You've let your hair grow out."

"Yeah. May I come in?"

Buffy stepped back and let Blair in and then started to close the door. A very large foot and arm got in the way.

"The door stays open." Jim said.

Buffy turned to Blair.

"I see you've been claimed," she said in an exhausted voice as the realization hit her that, with a sentinel present, she was trapped.

"For almost two years," Blair said. "The big guy still gets a little overprotective at times."

Blair turned to Jim. "Jim, I'll be fine."

"The door stays open or I come in." Jim said in his 'not open for discussion' voice. "What will it be?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You can listen through the door, anyway, so you might as well come in."

Jim stepped in, closed the door behind him and took up a guard position next to it.

Buffy and Blair sat in the two kitchen chairs, looking at each other across a small table. Both guide's eyes were clearly filled with pain.

"What happened?" Blair asked. "Why did you run?"

"I was at a wedding and a sentinel was holding my coat and sniffing necks," Buffy said. "I don't want to become a sentinel's property, so I left."

"You never met Sentinel Spikeman?" Blair asked checking to see if what Spikeman had told him was true.

"Is that his name? No, I never saw him before."

"He'll be here soon. You'll have to talk to him. Running isn't the answer."

"Not anymore," Buffy said. "He'll claim me, and I’ll become his property.”

"A sentinel needs his guide," Blair said, "bonding to a sentinel is a partnership, not slavery.”

"Is that why I have no right to say no to bonding? Is that why we have to live where he wants to live and do the work that he wants to do?"

“It’s not like that, Buffy. The bond changes you.”

Buffy gave an ironic laugh. “Yeah, sure. Guides are like an appliance to a sentinel. We just keep them balanced, like a refrigerator keeps their food cold. They don’t give a damn about the person.”

"I know you've been hurt by what happened to you with your family and at guide school, but a…"

"But, but, but,” Buffy interrupted with a snicker. "Did you know that Rayne's successor, Director Booker, declared me unfit to bond or to work as a healing guide?"

"There is nothing on your records declaring you unfit," Blair said.

"Nice of them to cover their own asses," Buffy said. "If they put it on public record, they would have to say why I'm unfit and how I got that way. I'm surprised they didn't totally erase me. No one would have noticed. I’ve never been to a guide meet and no one ever came knocking to find out why."

"You're not unfit," Blair said, "and someone would have noticed if they tried to erase you. I would have noticed."

"You?!" Buffy said. "Why would you have noticed? We weren't friends. You didn't even like me."

"I'm the one that reported Rayne's abuse," Blair said. "After I made the report, I kept checking on your guide status to see if charges were brought against Rayne. I'm sorry it took me so long to report him. I should have made a report right away, but I was afraid they wouldn't let me graduate."

Buffy could sense Blair's overwhelming emotional pain.

"Oh, Blair," she said as her empathic priorities kicked in, her concern clearly showed in her voice. She reached out her hand and put it on Blair’s arm. "Don't carry that guilt. You were right to wait until after graduation. As long as you were in the school, you would have been ignored, or worse, punished. I tried twice to report Rayne. The first time, I was called a liar, and the second time… I may as well have been talking to a wall. Please Blair, let it go. I don't want to be the cause of your pain. It wasn't your fault."

Jim began to like this young woman. Despite her own distress, her abandonment by her family, and her misconceptions about a bond, she was willing to comfort Blair. ‘If Spikeman’s half the sentinel his records say he is, he’ll bring his guide around. He’s one lucky sentinel to have found her,’ Jim thought.

"I came here to comfort you," Blair said. "And look who's doing the comforting."

"It's what we do, we're empaths," Buffy shrugged and pulled her hand back, her resignation showing in his voice. She looked down at the table. "So, what happens now, the sentinel will be here in a little while."

"We ran a check on him before we came up to talk to you. His abilities manifested a little over a year ago. He was in a bank during a hold-up and saved a kid from getting shot. He was pistol-whipped and in a coma for three days and when he woke up, he had sentinel abilities. He left his job and, after sentinel training, went into law enforcement. In that short time he’s earned several accommodations. Everything we found out about him says he's a good man."

"What did he do before that?"

"He was an English teacher."

"Wow, from a teacher to a sentinel," Buffy said, "that had to be a shock."

Jim's cell phone rang.

"Thanks Walters," Jim said into the phone and then hung up. "Spikeman is on his way up. Walters asked him to wait in the lobby, but he wouldn't have it."

"Well," Buffy said, "I guess it's goodbye, then. Thanks for coming, Blair. That was really kind of you."

"It's not goodbye," Blair said. Not wanting Buffy to feel abandoned, he reached into his wallet. "Here, take my card. If you need to talk, guide-to-guide or friend-to-friend, give me a call."

"Do you really think that a sentinel is going to let his female guide talk to another male?"

"Of course, he will," Blair said. "I told him we knew each other from school, and he was okay with me talking to you tonight. Take the card. If I don't hear from you, I'll call you."

There was a knock on the door.

"Blair's right," Jim said, "If you need a friend, or to talk to another guide, you call. Are you ready?"

Buffy took the card.

"I'll never be ready," she said, "but open it anyway."

Jim opened the door.

Buffy Summers looked at the sentinel standing at the door, clutching her big red pillow and her heart began to melt.

Sentinel Spikeman stepped into the room and took a deep breath through his nose.

"Guide," he whispered, as he made eye contact with her.

Buffy looked into his bright blue eyes and sensed his need and hope, mixed with concern for her. The sentinel looked so vulnerable. She hadn't expected that. She had expected a rogue lost in a bonding thrall. She had expected to see lust; expected to be claimed and owned by a sentinel.

Spike stepped to the side and placed the pillow on the kitchenette counter, then walked back and opened the folding closet doors. After scanning the area, he walked past Buffy and into the bathroom to check for anything that might be dangerous to his guide. He came back carrying a towel, which he laid out on the countertop. Spike opened all the drawers and took out all the knives, flatware and utensils.

Buffy whispered to Blair. "What's he doing?"

"Sentinel thing," Blair said. "He's protecting his guide."

Spike wrapped everything in the towel and placed the bundle, along with his gun, in the guest's safe in the closet.

Spike turned to Jim. "It's clear. You can go, now."

Jim nodded to his fellow sentinel.

"Come on, Chief," he said to Blair. "Let's give them some privacy."

******

Jim and Blair stepped onto the elevator and began the ride down in silence when Jim suddenly pressed the stop button. “All right Chief, out with it.”

“He looked so vulnerable, standing there hugging that big red pillow. I’ve never seen a sentinel look like that.”

“He needs his guide.”

“Yeah, but Jim, I’d felt sorry for Buffy, but then, I saw Spikeman. I thought he’d come in all authoritative and,” Blair dropped his voice to a deep baritone, “‘Me sentinel, you guide, I take. Tarzan to the rescue.’ I’ve never seen a sentinel look so vulnerable.”

“Damn impressive,” Jim agreed.

“Are you being sarcastic?” Blair asked.

“Not at all, Chief, ‘Tarzan to the rescue’ is easy. Any sentinel can do it, but control, that’s hard, and control when you’re hurting for your guide…”

“I didn’t think of it that way.”

“And I’ll tell you something else, Chief, Spikeman’s no schoolteacher, he’s a predator. The way he moved; you don’t learn that at the academy.”

“He a sentinel, you all move like predators.”

“All I can say is, I never want to be on opposite ends of a fight with him.” Jim started the elevator moving again. What he really wanted was to get to know Spikeman better. It wouldn’t be too hard. Lake View was only a forty-minute drive from Cascade. He was sure Blair was open to forming a friendship with Buffy.

“It’s hard for me to reconcile the vulnerable guy clutching a pillow and someone you would never want to fight,” Blair said as the elevator doors opened to the lobby.

“That vulnerable guy clutching a pillow was a sentinel holding off a bonding thrall by sheer will and a pillow. Like I said, damn impressive.”

Blair shrugged. He had never known Jim to be that impressed by a sentinel. This one didn’t seem to be very impressive, at first glance. Most sentinels looked like football players; tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular. Spikeman was muscular, but size-wise, he was smaller than other sentinels, more like a gymnast than a football player.

Blair yawned and got into the truck.

*********

When the pair left, Spike slid the night lock into place, then walked over to the kitchen table and turned one of the chairs around. He straddled the chair and sat down so that he was facing his guide and the back of the chair and the table was between them.

The action was not lost on Buffy. The sentinel was putting up a symbolic barrier between them. He was telling Buffy to relax, that he would keep his distance.

Spike handed the safe key to her.

"Here," Spike said. "You say when I get my gun back."

Buffy didn't take the key or answer, she just stood staring at the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life. The blond hair was wavy and unkempt and longer than the short cut that most sentinels wore. His cheekbones were high and sharp and his jaw line was as square as any she had ever seen, but the most outstanding feature was his eyes; they were soft, caring, and blue - very blue - without a hint of gray that most blue eyes had, and they were framed by thick, dark lashes. Beautiful was the only word Buffy could think of.

When his guide didn't answer Spike shrugged and dropped the key on the table. "Sit down, pet. We need to talk this out."

Buffy startled and folded her arms in defiance.

"I'm not your pet," she said, letting her anger at the term show. "I'm not an animal, I'm a human being."

"It was meant as a term of endearment," Spike said softly. "Please, sit down."

"Why bother?" Buffy asked. "Why don't you just force me to bond now and get it over with?"

"Don't want to force you," Spike said.

"Then, you may as well leave," Buffy told him, "because I'm not going to change my mind."

"You know that's not going to happen."

"Why not? If you leave now, the drive to bond with me will fade. Scent, sound and sight; that's only three senses. You're not locked in yet with all five, you could go."

Spike pulled a small wad of hair out of his pocket and showed it to Buffy.

"Touch,” he said. "From the hairbrush in your apartment."

"Still not locked," Buffy insisted. "You haven't tasted me yet."

"Wrong again, guide."

"What did you do?" Buffy asked, "taste my spoon from the wedding?"

"Toothbrush from your apartment...and the pillow," Spike admitted.

"You tasted my pillow? Ew!"

"Just the pillowcase," Spike said with a shrug. "I was in pain, I had to do something."

"What do you mean you were in pain?" Buffy asked, her empathic instincts kicking in.

"You weren't with me," Spike said. "It hurt."

"It's not supposed to hurt," Buffy said. "I didn't want to hurt you. Was it bad?"

"It's gone, now," Spike said, then tilted his head. "Why did you run, guide? What are you afraid of?"

Buffy’s heart began to beat harder and she looked away. The look on the sentinel’s face made her heart melt. "I don't want to be the property of a sentinel."

"Property?" Spike asked. "Is that what you think I want?"

"That's what guides are, the property of the sentinels," Buffy explained, looking down at the floor.

"You're wrong," Spike said. "I need and want a guide; I don't want to own you."

"What makes you think you'll be different?" Buffy asked.

"I know who I am and what I need,” Spike said. “I also know someone has abused you. It was mentioned in your guide school records."

"Someone? Try more than one," Buffy said. "And all but one of them were men."

"And ‘all men are alike’, is that what you believe?"

"That's been my experience," Buffy answered with an edge of anger in her voice.

"What do you need, guide?"

"I need you to leave me alone."

"You've been alone. Have you been happy?" Spike already knew the answer. He’d seen her apartment; it was barren, decorated in grays and browns. The only thing of color in the apartment was the red sheet set.

The question took Buffy by surprise. It was a question she had never been asked before and one she never expected to be asked. It hit her like a baseball bat to the stomach. She hung her head.

“No,” she whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

It was more than the sentinel could stand. His guide was in pain and needed comforting. Spike got up from the chair and walked over to Buffy.

"It's time to try something new,” he suggested as he pulled her into his arms and kissed away the tears, then laid her head on his shoulder. "Cry as long as you need to. I'll be here."

Buffy pushed Spike away. “I can’t bond with you. I can’t give you what you want.”

Spike allowed Buffy a bit of distance from him, but he still held her loosely in his arms. “Then, give me what I need, guide.”

“You don’t know what they did to me.”

“I know it was bad, I had to sign a waiver before the Agency would issue an Intent to Bond Certificate. I’m trying to get the sealed records.”

Buffy looked down at the floor. Her voice was no more than a whisper. “When I was learning hazard detection, the hazard was getting tased.”

Spike pulled Buffy close again and tucked her head under his chin. “That bastard. He’s not going to get away with it.”

Spike walked his barefoot guide into the bedroom and laid her on the bed and then he took off his shoes and shirt and lay down next to her. He held her and stroked her and after a while he began to unbutton her blouse. He could hear her heartbeat quicken and her body stiffen so he held her and purred to her as he waited for her heartbeat to return to normal. When she settled, he tried once again to unbutton her blouse. Buffy’s fear returned and Spike again stopped and comforted her.

Buffy was confused. She hadn't expected Spike to comfort her. She didn't want to accept it. She was sure it was only a ploy; if she began to want it, it would be taken away. There had been so many times as a child she had needed to be comforted, only to be left alone in an emotional freefall.

Spike knew that something very bad must have happened to Buffy for her to be so afraid of touch. “Pet, who hurt you?”

“I’m sorry, Spike,” Buffy sat up and began to take off her blouse.

“Stop, Pet,” Spike said as he sat up beside her and hugged her to him. “I told you I don’t want to force you. Tell me what this fear is about, Buffy.”

Buffy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “When my father left, we had to move. It wasn’t a very nice area. There was a boy, older than me and a lot bigger. He used to grab me and… he’d put his hands all over me and rub himself against me. I tried to fight him, but he was too big. Ever since then, I have trouble being touched.”

“Oh, Pet, I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“You don’t look at me the way he did. It was so ugly. He didn’t see I was a person. When you look at me you see a person.” Buffy’s voice broke, “When you look at me you melt my heart and I’m terrified that if I let myself want it, it will stop.”

“The sun might rise in the west tomorrow morning, but it ain’t bloody likely. I have to tell you, pet, even that is more likely than for my heart to stop melting every time I look at you. A sentinel bonds for life. I’m not going anywhere.”

“We’re not bound to each other yet,”

“You said yourself, I’m locked in, all five senses. Believe it Pet, I’m not going anywhere.”

“I think if I take off my clothes myself, I’ll be okay. You’re not forcing me, It’s my choice. Is that all right?”

Spike kissed her on the forehead. “Yeah, Pet, that’s all right.”

Buffy took off her blouse and bra and then laid down and cuddled in next to Spike. She sighed and began tracing Spikes abs with her finger. “I think we can make this work.”

“I know we can.”

After a few minutes Spike began to nuzzle Buffy’s neck and make little mewling sounds. They were the sounds of a sentinel in need of his guide. She could no more ignore his plea than she could ignore breathing. She was an empath, a healer. A guide. She smiled to herself as she moved her head and gave Spike access to her neck. He began licking and searching for the nickel-sized gland that gave off guide pheromones. When he found it, he began to suckle.

Serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin flooded Buffy's brain and all her carefully constructed emotional barriers came down. Suddenly, Spike was there; Spike wanting to give her comfort, wanting to protect her, wanting to belong to her. She had no resistance; she let him in.

In that instant, the bond was forged, and she came to know Spike; all his faults, his strengths, his needs and his wants, all his joys and all his pains; she knew them all.

The doubt that she had felt was erased. She was held in the sure, strong heart of a sentinel and she cried out in the overwhelming joy of being bonded to one who would not betray her.

"It's all right," Spike whispered. "I'm here."

"I know," she said. "You're my sentinel and I'm your guide. The bond, it’s locked us together.”

"I’m yours forever, Love. I want us to get to know each other a little better before I fully claim you. Sleep now, we’ve both had a long day and we have a lifetime ahead of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are food for the muse.


	3. Chapter 3

The newly bonded pair woke late the next morning. They showered together and went down to the dining area for the inn’s free breakfast. 

“Pet,” Spike said, when he had finished eating, “do you have the card that the guide gave you?”

“Yeah, but I don’t need to talk to Blair.”

“I just want to call Sentinel Ellison and let him know I’m coming in to press charges against Rayne.”

Buffy looked down at her plate and stirred what was left of her scrambled eggs. “It’s over. Can’t we just let sleeping dogs lie?”

Spike reached over and took her hand. “I’m your sentinel, love. I can’t let this go.”

Buffy’s bottom lip stuck out and quivered.

“Please?” she whispered. “I don’t want people to know I’m unfit.”

Spike’s eyes turned nearly black, his voice became hard. "Never again refer to yourself as unfit,” he said through clenched teeth. “Do you understand me, guide?"

Buffy startled and a tear rolled down her cheek. Spike had never spoken to her like that.

“Yes, sentinel,” she whispered.

Spike’s eyes softened. He got up and slid into the seat next to Buffy, taking her face in his hands and kissed away the tears.

“Oh, pet,” he said with a sigh, “don’t you know that no one gets through life unscathed and some of us, more than others. All we can do is the best we can with what we have. You're doing that, pet. You're doing your best. You’re not unfit and I refuse to let you believe you are. Rayne hurt you and he marked you with a lie. I can’t walk away from this anymore than a fish can swim away from water. I need to do this. I need to let you know you can trust me. I need you to know that I won't abandon you, your past or your future."

Buffy looked up into Spike’s eyes. They had softened back into their usual lapis blue.

“Okay,” she said with a small smile. Somehow her sentinel made her feel like she could face anything.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

It was 8 a.m. and Ethan Rayne had just begun to eat his breakfast, when his butler brought him the phone.

“It’s Director Booker, sir.”

Rayne scowled. He detested being bothered so early in the day. He snatched the phone from his butler’s offered hand.

“Rayne!”

Booker, the guide school’s director, was nervous. He knew Rayne’s moods well. Rayne put everyone he knew into one of three groups: loyal business associates, people he could use, and those he trampled over. Booker knew he was about to deliver bad news and he hoped that it would not move him from the first group to the third. There was no point in beating around the bush. Rayne didn’t like small talk.

“Sentinel William Spikeman took out an Intent to Bond Certificate on Buffy Summers last night.”

Rayne was livid.

“How the hell did that happen? Anyone who requested a certificate was required to sign a waiver.” He threw his linen napkin onto the table. All he needed was just two more weeks and his secret lab would be finished. He should have kidnaped the bitch and started breeding her.

“He signed the waiver.”

“Only an idiot sentinel would sign that waiver. Someone else must know about the bitch. I’ll call Gunn and have him take care of the problem. Then, we’ll be back on track. We’re too close now to lose this opportunity.”

A shiver went through Booker at the sound of Rayne's voice. "You can't kill a sentinel; they'll swarm down on us so fast..."

"Stupid man," Rayne muttered, hanging up on him to dial his fixer. “Sentinel's die all the time in the line of duty."

**********

Booker stared in horror at the phone and panicked. Ethan Rayne intended to have a sentinel killed and Booker wanted nothing to do with it.

He slammed the phone down, went to his safe and pulled out a large block of cash and a thick brown envelope. He wrote the address of the Cascade police on the envelope, addressed it to the attention of Sentinel James Ellison and put every postage stamp he had on it.

He left the house as if he had every intention of coming back but gave silent thanks to God for his account in the Cayman Islands. He stopped briefly to drop the envelope in the mail, then sped out of Cascade toward Canada. He knew he was leaving behind a lucrative business investment in a company in which Ethan Rayne secretly held a controlling interest; but there was a good chance, that if he stayed, he would never get to enjoy the good life that Rayne had seduced him with. Rayne didn't like people knowing about the skeletons in his closet and Booker had a gut feeling he had just learned of one too many.

**********

Charles Gunn was a big man with coffee, brown skin, a shaved head and cold hard chestnut colored eyes. Anyone who saw him coming stepped aside. Gunn was Ethan Rayne's problem solver. He solved people problems efficiently, quietly and most importantly, his solutions were final. He was paid well; it was the money that Gunn was loyal to. He knew that one day he would have to kill Rayne or be killed by him, and he had no intention of letting the latter happen.

Gunn arrived at the solarium at exactly 10 a.m. He stood quietly, waiting for Rayne to acknowledge him. Rayne liked keeping his employees waiting. Most of them squirmed after a minute or so. Gunn didn't, he calmly observed his surroundings and the people in his vicinity, searching for any weaknesses that he might be able to exploit in the future.

Rayne didn’t bother looking up from his Wall Street Journal as he spoke.

"I have two jobs for you,” he said in his usual cold, crisp voice. “The first I want done today as soon as we finish talking: Director Booker of Rainier University's Guide School. He should suffer a most unfortunate accident. With your skills it should cause you no problems.”

“The second, Sentinel William Spikeman: I want him killed and his guide taken. It’s imperative that no physical harm comes to the guide. I’ve engaged an abduction team, coordinate with them. The envelope on the table has all the information. Do you have any questions?”

Gunn knew better than to ask questions. Rayne considered employee's questions, at best; a nuisance, at worst; a weakness, and he knew that anyone suspected of weakness in Mr. Rayne's employ posed a problem that needed to be solved. That was probably what happened with Booker.

"No, sir, Mr. Rayne." 

Gunn smiled at the butler as he took the thick envelope that was handed to him on his way out. Booker would pose no problem; it was the sentinel he was looking forward to testing himself against. He didn't care why Rayne wanted this sentinel dead. For Gunn, the only thing that mattered was the joy of the kill and the payment.

When Gunn returned to his car, he took out a burner phone and called the guide school; Booker was late, and his secretary hadn’t heard from him. Next, he called the director's home; there was no answer. He felt in his gut that Director Booker was on the run. It was hard to run without leaving a trail and Gunn had people that were incredibly good trackers.

He removed the back of his phone, took out the chip and threw it out the window and with the stock of his gun, he smashed the screen. Then he started his car and drove away. He knew when someone ran this quickly, they always left clues. He threw the smashed phone out the window as he pulled onto the highway.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 

Booker lived in an upper middle-class neighborhood. His house was noticeably more expensive than the director of a guide school should be able to afford.

Gunn searched the house and found all of Booker’s clothes appeared to be there, which meant that he would have to buy some soon. Gunn found the safe; it was easy for someone with his skills to break into it. It was empty.

Next, Gunn looked through Booker's desk. He noticed the empty stamp sheets in the wastebasket. Gunn logged onto Booker's computer and backed up all the files onto a flash drive. Then, he looked at the internet history, where he found what he was looking for. Booker had pulled up directions for a road trip to Canada.

Gunn slipped the thumb drive into his pocket and knelt in front of the gas fireplace. He disabled the autopilot and turned on the gas, lit the candles on the dining room table and left the house.

By the time Gunn got to his car, he’d made a call to arrange for Director Booker to have an unfortunate accident on a lonely stretch of back road on his way to Canada. Then, he calmly drove away.

Twenty minutes later the house exploded.

*********************************

The Bullpen, Cascade Police Department

*********************************

"Hello, Sentinel Ellison's desk, Guide Sandburg speaking. How may I help you?"

"Guide Sandburg? This is Sentinel Spikeman."

"Is there a problem, sentinel?" Blair asked, his concern clear in his voice.

"This is just a courtesy call. Is Sentinel Ellison available?"

"He's not available at the moment, but he should be back shortly. Can I take a message or have him call you back?"

"I'm coming in later today to press charges against Ethan Rayne. I just wanted to give him a heads up."

"Thanks, Sentinel Spikeman. That's very thoughtful of you," Blair said, relieved that Buffy was okay.

"Please, call me Spike. Oh, and one more thing: we're planning on staying in Cascade for a few days, in case you need Buffy to pick Rayne out of a line up. Can you recommend a decent sentinel/guide friendly motel? The inn is a bit too pricey for my wallet."

"Why don't you stay with Jim and me?" Blair offered. "We have a spare room. It's got a bed and the price is right."

"I don't want to put you out, Guide Sandburg."

"Please, we're going to be roomies. Call me Blair."

**********

"You did what?" Jim asked.

"I told them they could stay with us for a few days. What's the problem?"

"They are a newly bonded sentinel and guide. That's the problem."

"I thought you liked the guy. You said he was impressive.’"

"That doesn't mean I want him anywhere near you."

"Jim, I don't understand. He's a fellow sentinel in need. I thought you'd be glad to help him out."

"Ordinarily, I would," Jim said, "but these are special circumstances."

"What special circumstances?" Blair asked, truly confused.

"Sentinels in a new bond tend to be twitchy. You waited six months to report his guide was being abused."

"Buffy forgave me for that and you don't think I was to blame, either. Why would he?"

"Like I said, sentinel's aren't always reasonable when it comes to their guides, especially newly-bonded sentinels. They haven’t even been together a full twenty-four hours, yet. I was planning on giving them four to six weeks before we’d establish a friendship," Jim explained, annoyed with Blair for not thinking of his own safety.

Blair blinked at his sentinel. Jim was planning to establish a friendship? Well, that was different. Simon was the only one Jim ever seemed to want to socialize with. Blair shrugged off his thoughts and got back on subject.

"I doubt it will come up. He may not even know I waited to report the abuse. Besides, he would be an idiot to try anything with you around. So, don't worry, big guy."

“Apparently, you didn’t believe me when I said he wasn’t someone I wanted to fight,” Jim said with a sigh. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

He hoped Spikeman would take his revenge out on Rayne and leave Blair out of it.

"I'm going to see what I can find on Ethan Rayne," Jim said. "Then, maybe, there won't be any reason for Spikeman to stay."

Blair reached out and laid his hand on Jim’s arm. “You’re serious about not wanting to fight him. Why would you want to establish a friendship with him?”

“I don’t fight my friends, Chief. Spikeman’s a strong sentinel, of course, I want him for a friend.”

“Neither of them expected to be away from home today, so they’re going clothes shopping before they swing over here to swear out charges. They’ll be here by the end of shift.”

Jim nodded and went to his computer to search for any information he could find on Ethan Rayne. He found nothing before two years ago when Rayne resigned from the directorship, there was no reason given for his resignation. All the evidence showed that Rayne went off the grid. He couldn’t find an address or phone number, not even a registered vehicle.

The next people on his list to interrogate were Booker and Freedman, the teachers Buffy tried to report the abuse to. He called Booker’s office and the secretary told Jim she was unable to get in touch with the director and that it was very unusual for him not to call in when he was going to be late or out for the day.

Jim had a bad feeling in his gut that something was very wrong. It would have been one thing if there had been an investigation into Blair’s report of abuse, but there was none. That screamed coverup. The fact that Booker seemed to have disappeared the day after Buffy bonded with Spike strongly suggested that someone had been watching Buffy.

Jim grabbed his coat and called to Blair. “Come on, chief. We need to find Booker and ask him some questions.”

“Booker? I thought you were looking for Rayne?” Blair asked as he grabbed his coat and followed the sentinel out of the station.

“Rayne’s off the grid and Booker seems to be missing. You don’t have to be a sentinel to know something smells rotten.”

**********

Booker’s house was fully engulfed in flames when they got there. Jim talked to the senior firefighter on the scene, who said the house had exploded and that it looked like a gas leak. There was no way of knowing if anyone had been inside, but there was no car in the garage, so it was a possibility no one was home.

“Do you have Spikeman’s number?” Jim asked when they got back to the truck.

“It’s back at the station,” Blair said. “Do you think this has something to do with Buffy?”

Jim scowled and put the key in the ignition. Blair could feel that he was in full sentinel mode. “I don’t believe in coincidences, Chief.” He took out his police light and put it on top of the truck. He needed to get back to the station and warn Spikeman and he needed to do it fast.

**********

Spike was sitting in a chair in Payless Shoes watching Buffy try on stylish, but affordable boots when the call came in.

Spike stood up and scanned the room for danger.

“Put on your shoes, pet. We have to go. Now!”

Buffy looked up, her mind focused more on shopping than her sentinel’s mood. “I have two more pairs of boots to try on. I only need ten more minutes.”

“Sorry, pet. That’s it for today.”

Spike didn’t look at her as he talked. Buffy suddenly noticed that her sentinel, for the first time since they met, was not focused mainly on her.

“What’s wrong, Spike?”

“Ellison called. We need to get to the station. Get your shoes on now, Buffy, or I’ll carry you out of here and leave the bags behind.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, but I don’t sense any danger.”

“No point in waiting ‘til you do.”

**********

As soon as Spike and Buffy got to the station, Jim insisted that Spike press charges against Rayne before he led them to the Captain’s office.

Sentinel Captain Simon Banks was a big man with milk chocolate-colored skin and eyes that danced with life. He was rarely seen without an unlit cigar in his mouth. He had a booming voice that everyone in the detective bullpen knew well. He kept his own personal coffee pot in his office and used imported beans from Columbia that he ground and blended himself. The captain’s coffee was sacred, and no one touched it.

The Captain looked up from his desk and saw Detective Ellison and Blair, along with another man and woman heading toward his office. It was never a good sign when Jim had a scowl on his face and he and his guide walked into the office unbidden. It was always better not to beat around the bush with Ellison, so as soon as Ellison entered, Banks got right to the point. “What’s going on Jim?”

“This is Sentinel Detective William Spikeman, out of Lake View, and his guide, Buffy Summers.”

Jim went on to explain the charges Spike was pressing against Rayne.

“Je-sus!” Banks roared with a pound of his giant fist on his desk. "Booker is covering up guide abuse and now he’s missing? Why the hell didn't I hear about these charges? When were they filed?"

"I filed them just before we came up to your office," Spike said in his crisp detective tone.

Simon turned and looked at Buffy with a combination of anger and concern dancing across his face. He wanted to offer her a comforting touch, but he didn't know this sentinel and guide well enough to take that liberty and the guide was not at all open to being comforted.

Buffy stood with her arms crossed, glaring at the captain.

Spike tried to guide her to a chair. "Sit down, pet."

She yanked her arm away and refused to sit. "Does everyone we meet have to know about this?”

"We talked about this, love," Spike said in a firm tone, but he put his hand on the back of her neck and made small circles with his thumb. "We're sentinels. A guide has been abused."

“I thought you were going to press charges, not air my dirty laundry in front of everyone.”

“Not your dirty laundry, love, it’s Rayne’s.”

Sentinel Captain Simon Banks was an exceptionally good judge of sentinel character. He liked Spikman's crisp, no-nonsense delivery of the facts. He watched the exchange between sentinel and guide carefully and he liked the way he treated his guide; firm yet comforting.

"You want in on this case, Spikeman?" Simon asked, deciding that for once, fortune was in his favor.

"Yes, Captain Banks, I do," Spike said as firmly as he dared. He didn't want to risk disrespecting the team of Cascade sentinels.

"Sentinel Robert's guide is pregnant with twins. She wants to be near family, and he's asked me for a transfer to Lake View. If you're willing to transfer here permanently, I'll assign you and Jim to the case."

Spike offered his hand. "Call me Spike, sir."

Simon shook his hand, "We have a deal, I’ll call Lakeview and get the paperwork filed."

"Thank you, Captain," Spike said with a smile, glad that he hadn't been told to go home.

"I can give you a safehouse to stay in until you find an apartment," Simon said, reaching for the phone.

"That won’t be necessary. They'll be bunking with us," Blair said. He wanted to keep Buffy close in case the newly bonded guide needed someone to talk to.

"Good. One less thing to worry about," Simon said with a sigh of relief. "What else do you need?"

"I want Oz," Jim said. "Spike got a notice that Buffy’s sealed records were lost. If anyone can recover them, he can."

“Done. Now, get out of my office. I need to make some calls.”

*********

Jim and Blair brought Spike and Buffy to their apartment after the shift was over. Spike held Buffy's hand as Blair showed them around the small apartment. The apartment had a loft bedroom open to the downstairs. It was the perfect place for an Alpha Sentinel to sleep. The guest bedroom was tucked under the loft, behind the stairs. It was small with a futon bed. The eat-in kitchen was at the back of the apartment and the bathroom was off the living room. Spike forced himself to defer to the Senior Sentinel's judgment and refrained from nosing into every corner. This was Jim's territory and he was first sentinel here. If Jim said it was safe, then it was safe.

Jim liked Spike a lot, but he did have that one caution he kept in the front of his mind: Blair waited six months to report Buffy was being abused. Spike wasn’t acting like he knew or had any animosity toward Blair, but they were investigating Buffy’s case and it was only a matter of time before Spike found out.

Still, Jim felt a pull to Spike. He’d never felt like this with any other sentinel, not even the rangers he had served with in the Army. They were men he trusted with his life and they depended on him with theirs. They were men he cared about, if they came to him in trouble, he would do whatever it took to help them.

Jim had never been in the trenches, fighting a war with Spike, yet he didn’t object when Banks assigned Spike as his partner. They worked together without friction. As much as he respected the detectives in his working pack, he didn’t want to share his cases with them. He had wanted to work only with Blair as his partner. Jim couldn’t fathom why he felt the pull to Spike. He just did.

Blair and Buffy prepared supper in the kitchen while Jim and Spike compared notes on what they had found in their computer searches, earlier that day.

"So, both the teachers that Buffy reported the abuse to are dead," Jim said.

"Yeah. Whoever’s doing this is playing hardball," Spike said, concern filling his voice.

"But why kill them?" Jim asked. "Blair was never abused and the other students that were in the school at the time weren’t abused either. What's the motive?"

"Beats me," Spike said. "Booker ran, so whatever the motive is, it's ongoing. That makes me think that this is about more than Buffy's abuse."

"Maybe, maybe not. Booker declared Buffy unfit to bond or work as a healer guide..."

"She's not unfit!" Spike growled.

"Whoa, sentinel," Jim said, throwing up his hands in surrender. "It's just a case fact, I'm not passing judgment."

Spike sighed. "Sorry, Jim. That's a sensitive area."

"I understand," Jim said. "If anyone called Blair unfit, I wouldn't be very friendly towards him, myself."

"I like Blair," Spike said. "He’s warm and calming in a bubbly sort of way."

Jim laughed. "I’ve never heard him described that way, but now that you mention it, it does fit him to a T."

"Well, I guess we have our jobs cut out for us until this case is over. It's not going to be easy for either of them, having to relive this."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked. "Blair was never abused."

"Blair is as much a victim of abuse as Buffy is. To know what he knew and not be able to do anything about it, it had to be hell for him."

There was no use lying, Spike would know if he tried.

"How long have you known?" Jim asked.

"Since this afternoon. I found out that Blair was the one to file a report about the abuse while I was doing the computer search on Rayne. That was brave of him."

"I found out the night Buffy ran. Blair felt so bad he didn't report it sooner, that I knew something was wrong and I made him tell me. But Buffy doesn't blame him. She comforted Blair at the inn, in spite of the emotional turmoil she was going through."

"Well, Blair went through hell, too. I’m glad that they met up. I know it means a lot to Buffy to have a friend that doesn’t see her as unfit and Blair can have peace of mind, now. But still, there must be something in the school records they don't want me to see."

"I agree," Jim said, "otherwise, they would have given them to you right away."

**********************

Meanwhile, in the kitchen:

**********************

"I'm telling you, Buffy," Blair said, "when I saw him standing at the door hugging your pillow, I thought, ‘Wow...he is the second most beautiful sentinel I've ever seen.’"

"Second?" Buffy asked.

"Jim is the most beautiful sentinel I've ever seen."

"Well, that's your opinion," Buffy said with a mischievous grin.

Blair laughed. "Maybe we should just agree that they’re both tens."

"I can agree to that."

"So," Blair said as he chopped lettuce for salad, "you seem to have accepted the role of guide."

"I've accepted that we’re bonded, and you’re right it has changed me,” Buffy said, as she sliced a cucumber, “but it's not easy. He insists we shower together. I remember the classes at guide school about the sentinel’s need for intimacy, I just wonder how long it will be before I get tired of it and just want to tell him to back off.”

“When I am temporarily overwhelmed I just tell Jim. He backs off for a bit. But that’s rare. Most of the time, when I’m stressed I’m more likely to ask him to just hold me. You need to be honest with Spike. It’s important for a sentinel to give his guide what he, or she, needs. 

Buffy bit her bottom lip and looked into Blair’s eyes, trying to decide whether to trust him with her biggest fear. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don't want to fail him as a guide."

"You're not going to fail him Buffy, the declaration that you’re unfit is a lie."

“Spike had to sign a waiver before they would give him an intent to bond certificate. If it’s a lie why would they make a sentinel sign a waiver?”

Blair reached over and put his hand on Buffy’s wrist. “Jim and Spike will get to the bottom of this. You’re a strong empath, trust your instincts, you’re not unfit, you’re not going to fail him and he’s not going to fail you. 

**********

The two couples had a very pleasant dinner. Blair was a great cook and, luckily, Buffy’s lack of talent in the kitchen didn’t hinder him.

After dinner, they watched a basketball game on TV and went to bed.

Buffy snuggled into Spike’s arms.

“These sheets are so soft.”

“Six hundred count Egyptian Cotton, sentinel friendly,” Spike said as he began to nuzzle her neck.

Buffy arched her neck to give Spike better access to her guide gland.

“Are your sheets this soft?” She asked with a giggle, “Because, a guide could get used to this. I may just decide to move in permanently.”

Spike gave a playful growl and nibbled at her neck. “Minx.”

Buffy reached out and stroked Spike’s hard cock. “Seems like you like a little minx in your gal.”

Spike grabbed Buffy and rolled her over onto her back, looking into her eyes. She suddenly felt hot and moist. Spike broke eye contact and looked along her body and then looked back. “I need to taste you, love.”

Buffy nodded.

He kissed his way down her body, letting his hands slide down to her hips. He stopped to lick her belly button, then moved lower, putting her legs over his shoulders.

Buffy moaned and ran her fingers through Spike’s hair.

Spike kissed each thigh as he gently opened her nether lips. Her scent assaulted him, and he could see her opening glisten in the dim light. Her clit was swollen and red and his sentinel senses could feel her heat on his face. He stuck out his tongue and licked at the silken moisture, running it up and around her hot button.

Buffy’s hands tightened in his hair, her back arched, as she moaned.

Spike began to purr as he continued to lick at Buffy’s ambrosia.

“Yours,” she screamed as her orgasm hit her.

“Forever.” Spike answered. He crawled up beside Buffy and took her into his arms. “I’ll always be here for you, love.”

Buffy rubbed Spike’s erection with her leg. “Please, sentinel, claim your guide.”

“Are you sure, love?”

“I’m sure.”

Spike moved over Buffy and slid into her.

Buffy wrapped her legs and arms around Spike and tilted her head to allow Spike better access to her guide gland. Spike nuzzled her neck and began to suckle. 

Guide pheromones flooded both Buffy and Spike’s mind as they joined, body and soul. Giant chrysanthemums of light exploded around them.

“Mine,” Spike roared.

“Yours,” Buffy answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments inspire the muse to whisper in my ear.


	4. Chapter 4

Morning at the Loft Apartment

*************************

It felt good to take a shower with Spike. The warm water running over her, the way Spike soaped her body and ran his hands over her as if he were worshipping every muscle. She leaned back into the touch. It made her feel wanted, appreciated, and most of all, it made her feel loved. She wondered at how quickly she had not only accepted that she was the bond mate of a sentinel, but that she desired him and his touch. 

The shower was over too soon. Spike stepped out first and quickly toweled off, wrapping the towel around his waist. He held up a large soft bath towel for Buffy and wrapped it around her as she stepped out of the shower. 

“Love,” Spike said as he stood behind her, gently drying her off, “I have to scent mark you before we have breakfast.”

“Scent mark? I don’t know what that is.”

“I need to put my scent on you.”

“That much I figured out for myself. What I want to know is what scent? Like, B.O.? We just took a shower, so…how do you mark me?

“You know what a quickie is?”

“Of course, but why didn’t we have a quickie before showering? It would have saved us from taking two showers.”

“No shower afterwards. You need to wear my scent for the day.”

“Ew, Spike!” Buffy wrinkled her nose. “I’ll stink.”

“No, you won’t, Pet.” Spike grabbed a second towel and began gently squeezing the water from Buffy’s hair. “I promise, if the mark begins to smell strong enough for a common person to pick up your scent, I’ll bring you home to shower, ’sides, this is necessary. If we went out there without you being marked, Jim would be within his right as alpha sentinel to throw us out of the apartment."

Buffy was confused. "Aren't you also an alpha?"

"Yes, but that has nothing to do with it. This is Jim's territory, his home; he's head alpha. Things get tricky when there’s a newly bonded sentinel and guide involved with an established bond like Jim and Blair."

"Can I at least wash my hands before I eat?" Buffy said hopefully.

Spike laughed.

"Hand washing is allowed, guide." In a more serious voice, he added, "But, no shoes or socks."

"What?" Buffy was surprised by the mandate. "Why not?"

Spike ran his fingers through Buffy's hair, shaking it out and working through any tangles. "Going barefoot shows we recognize Jim’s dominance. I either bow to that or fight him. I don’t want to fight Jim and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to fight me."

"Then, why didn't we take off our shoes as soon as we got here?"

“Last night, we were invited in. It was Jim’s way of telling me he respected me as an alpha, but now I have to bow to his authority and show him the respect he’s due.”

Buffy held up her hand. “Okay, I give. It’s a sentinel thing. I remember being told in guide school not to question sentinel protocol; it’s there to keep you from killing each other. Soo…are you up for a quickie?”

Spike smirked and looked down at his erection. “Always up for you, love.”

Buffy rolled her eyes as Spike pulled her into the bedroom.

**********

Jim and Blair had been up for a while making breakfast for themselves and their guests. Jim was quiet, which wasn’t unusual, but Blair could feel that his sentinel was anxious.

“Jim, you’re making me uneasy. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing wrong, Chief. It’s… I…”

Blair took the scrambled eggs off the burner and faced Jim. He wasn’t a talker; like most sentinels, he preferred actions to talking, but Blair knew that one of his jobs as a guide was to defuse any possible explosions by getting his sentinel to tell him what was on his mind.

“They’re in the shower. We can talk without Spike overhearing, so, out with it.”

“I’m going to ask him to join my pack.”

Blair was confused. “Ask him? I thought he was automatically part of your working pack as soon as he joined the department.”

“Not my working pack. I want to establish a personal pack with him. I need to know if you have any reservations.”

Blair was momentarily speechless. Forming a personal pack was rare.

“That’s quite a surprise! Is that why you didn’t argue with Simon when he said Spike would be your partner?”

“I feel a pull towards him, Chief. He’s a good man and a strong sentinel. He knew you were the one that reported Buffy’s abuse. He told me it wouldn’t be easy for either of you to go through this investigation.”

“I didn’t think he knew. I never sensed any waver in how he feels about me. Look, I like Spike and Buffy, so no problem from me on that front, but, Jim, this is a big decision. Personal packs live together, and, no offense, you’re a very private guy. It’s all well and good to have them here for a few days, but this place would be too small for the four of us in the long haul.”

“I have a plan for that.”

The pair heard the shower turn off and both went back to preparing breakfast. Blair would have liked to have a longer talk with Jim, but at least Jim had relaxed a bit.

*******

Buffy used her toast to sweep the last bit of scrambled egg onto her fork.

“Blair, those were the most delicious eggs I’ve ever eaten.”

“I’ll second that,” Spike said.

“Blair’s always been a great cook…or, at least since he stopped trying to feed me grass,” Jim said with a teasing smile.

Blair gave his sentinel a playful slap on the arm. “That wasn’t grass, it was green leafy vegetables.” 

Jim laughed and gave Blair a peck on the cheek, then turned to Spike.

“Spike, come with me. There’s something I want to show you.”

Jim grabbed a key from the holder on the wall as they left the apartment. They walked down the hall to the neighboring door. Jim unlocked it and held it open for Spike. The sentinels walked into a large open space. They stood there a few moments saying nothing.

Now that it had come to it, Jim didn’t know what to say. It didn’t seem appropriate to just blurt out…what? How does a sentinel ask another to form a pack?

It was Spike that broke the silence.

“Jim, you need to give me a hint. What am I looking at here?”

Jim decided the direct approach would be best, especially because he couldn’t figure out another way to approach the subject. “I’d like to ask you to become my pack brother.”

Spike tilted his head and looked into Jim’s eyes. He knew they got along well. The easy way they worked together; it wasn’t always like that between sentinels. Spike needed to make sure Jim knew what he was asking. “Jim, I’m an alpha. I can’t change that; I wouldn’t want to.”

“I know you’re an alpha, Spike. I don’t want you to be my beta. I want us to be brothers; equals.”

“And this?” Spike asked with a sweep of his arm.

“Packs live together. I own this building. We could knock out the wall between the apartments and put in a gourmet kitchen, add a loft bedroom for you and Buffy and a second bathroom. The rest of the space,” Jim said with a shrug, “we can do whatever we want with it...maybe an exercise room or a nursery, if you and Buffy want to have a child.”

“Seems like you really thought this out. Can’t say I’m against it. I feel comfortable with you and Blair. Somehow, it just feels right. I’ll have to talk to Buffy. She needs to be consulted. I can’t say yes without her agreement.”

Jim stepped up to Spike and put his right hand on the back of Spike’s neck and bent down until their foreheads touched. His thumb ran little circles over Spike’s jaw, a very intimate act between two sentinels.

Spike didn’t move. He stood perfectly still, his breathing even. If he had been a beta, he would have been expected to bow his head in deference to his alpha. 

“Talk to her when we get back to the apartment,” Jim whispered. “Rayne is coming. He wants to kill you and take her. He’s not going to wait. We’re stronger together.”

Spike lifted his hand and placed it on Jim’s neck. Jim allowed the intimacy. After all, he told Spike he wanted a relationship of equals. He welcomed the touch. It meant Spike was willing to be his brother. 

Jim heard a low growl coming from Spike’s chest.

“Rayne is a dead man walking.” 

Jim had no doubt it was true.

**********

Buffy sat curled up on the sofa with Spike’s arm around her.

“I don’t remember learning much about packs in guide school. I remember something about soldiers forming packs while in the field, but when they leave the service, the pack is dissolved. You’re telling me, if the four of us form a pack, it will be kind of permanent and we’ll be living together. Why is this different?”

It was Jim that answered. “In the service, the guides have a lower empath level, purposely, so the bond isn’t as deep. We don’t bond for life and we don’t dance in the bond. When your tour of duty is over, it’s natural to move on. In many ways, you're not living in the same world anymore. You’re out of the war zone. You’re home. But, at the same time, if any of the men I served with were to come to me for help, I would give it. 

“We’re not in a war zone, this is our life.” Jim continued, “Spike’s the only sentinel I’ve ever asked to form a pack with me. I don’t do it lightly. I want him by my side.”

Buffy sat up and put her bare feet on the floor. She leaned forward and glared at Jim.

“Spike’s my sentinel! You're not taking him away from me.” 

“Whoa, love,” Spike said, tightening his hold on her and pulling her close. “There’s no way in hell Jim could take me away from you. I’m yours, love. Jim has Blair. Their bond is deep, and he won’t give him up for me. I swear to you, Buffy, forming a pack won’t interfere with our bond or theirs.”

“Spike’s right,” Blair said, “a sentinel-to-sentinel bond is always second to a sentinel-to-guide bond. Spike’s and Jim’s bond is a different kind of bond. They don’t have to renew it. I know in my soul that there is no sentinel or guide that can come between Jim and me. Your bond is new. In time, you’ll know it’s true of your bond, too.”

“What do you want to do, Spike?” Buffy asked. “You’re the one that has to bond with him.”

“It’s not just me, love,” Spike told Buffy as he ran his fingers through her hair. “Jim will need to pattern your guide gland and I’ll need to pattern Blair’s.” 

“By pattern, do you mean taste? Because you know how that affects me.”

Buffy blushed.

“No offence, Jim, but Spike’s the only one I want to make me feel that way.”

“I’ve never done this before, either,” Blair said. “I doubt that it will be as intense as when Jim and I renew our bond. Jim and Spike will just need to get enough of a taste to-”

“I don’t need to bond with you,” Jim interrupted, before Blair, in helpful mode, got a bit too helpful. “I just need to register you as a pack member.”

Buffy looked into Jim’s eyes. “If it’s like kissing a family member, I’m okay with it if the three of you are. So, is that what it’s like?”

“More or less, but it’s not a kiss. I need to have enough of a taste to pattern you. Locking your taste into my mind is what makes you and Spike family. I become your protector.”

“So, how do you make Spike family? He doesn’t have a guide gland.”

“It’s done with scent not taste. I wear Jim’s scent so Jim and other sentinels will recognize us as a pack.”

“You’re going to have sex with Jim?! You’re not gay.”

“We’re not going to have sex.” Jim said. “We’ll just rub yesterday’s sock on the hip of our jeans. That will be enough for a sentinel to pick up our scent marks.”

Blair was confused. “Wait a minute, Jim, did you just say you were going to wear each other's scent? I thought the beta wore the alpha’s sent.”

“Spike’s no beta. I promised him we’ll be equals.”

Spike looked at Jim. Wearing his scent was an adjustment to pack behavior that he hadn’t expected. It was not a small thing. He had thought they would keep being equals private. Jim was making it public between sentinels.

“But Jim, aren’t you worried about challenges to you for the Head Alpha of Cascade?” Blair asked. “After all, you’ll be wearing an alpha sentinel’s scent.”

“If anyone challenges me, he’ll learn the error of his ways soon enough.”

Blair made his decision. If Jim was willing to go so far as to wear Spike’s scent, then it was a done deal. There was no point in delaying the inevitable. He stood up and walked to the middle of the living room, moving his long hair off his neck.

“I am Guide Blair Sandburg and I welcome you to our pack.”

Spike stood and walked to Blair. “I accept your offer, Guide Blair, and I am honored to become your protector.”

Spike leaned in and licked Blair’s guide gland three times, then straightened and held his hand out to Buffy.

Buffy walked forward and Spike whispered the ceremonial words for her to repeat. She moved her hair from her neck.

“I am Guide Buffy Summers, and I am honored to join your pack.”

“As I am honored to become your protector.”

Jim leaned in and took three licks of Buffy’s guide gland.

Blair had been right. It wasn’t as intense as it was when Spike suckled her neck, but it was pleasant, and she felt a sensation climb her spinal column and spread out in her mind. She had no doubt she was now registered in Jim’s mind as pack.

**********

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

When the two couples got to the police station Oz was waiting. Jim did the introductions and then they got down to business.

"So, what exactly do you guys need?" Oz asked.

"I got a notice that some of my Guide's school records were lost in a computer glitch. We need to recover them," Spike said.

"Who sent the notice and when?"

"The director of the guide school, Booker, sent it on Monday."

"Warren Meers is the I.T. at the school and if he stays true to form Monday's hangover day, Today's Tuesday so he'll be playing catch up. We may have a shot of doing this the easy way. Where can I work?"

"You don't need to go to the school?" Jim asked.

"Not if you bring my alter ego out of retirement, I'll need about fifteen minutes, we'll know then, one way or the other."

"You can work at my station," Jim said. When Jim got to his desk he sat down and brought up the Sentinel Registry. He typed in Red Wolf, Oz's honorary Sentinel name, restored the retired Sentinel to active duty and assigned him to the case. Then he gave his seat to Oz.

With a Sentinel password, Oz could get into any city, county or state computer network. He sat at the computer. "Okay Warren, full moon rising." Oz's fingers moved across the keyboard so fast that they were a blur. "Let's see what you're up to today."

An I.T. activity report came on screen. Oz pointed at the screen "We're in luck. He's just erased the records for Buffy Summers and he's partially erasing others to make it look like an accident." Oz's fingers began to fly across the board again.

Jim was curious, he trusted Oz but he didn't always understand him. "How is that lucky," he asked. "If they've already been erased."

"He's still covering his tracks, that means the files are still in the trash can. All I have to do is turn your computer into the town dump. Do you care if Warren knows about this?"

"Not unless he can stop you," Jim said, "He'll be under arrest ten minutes after I get the file."

Oz finished typing in the new code and logged out of the guide school and then he logged into the Fire Department.

"Why are you accessing the Fire Department?" Spike asked.

"Because I like playing computer dominoes," Oz said in his usual deadpan voice. "Domino one, fire suppressant test of the school's computer room. The second domino to fall is the fire alarm that gives Warren 20 second to get out of the room before the fire suppressant is released. Domino three the school's computer shuts down causing the trash can to dump all the files it holds onto Jim's computer. If either of you gentlemen have a problem with that let me know now before I press enter."

"Go," Jim said as he picked up the phone and put out a Sentinel order of arrest on Warren Meers.

Oz pushed the button and thirty seconds later everyone watched as the files from the guide school computer's trashcan were downloading onto Jim's computer as promised.

"You better erase your footprints," Jim said when the download had finished. "I don't want to have to hunt down Sentinel Wolf."

"All taken care of Big Guy," Oz said, "but thanks for watching my back. Is there anything else you need?"

“How are you a skip tracing?” Jim asked.

“If he’s on the grid I can find him.”

“We’re trying to find Ethan Rayne. He disappeared after resigning from the directorship of the Guide School two years ago.”

“I’m on it.” Oz said with a smile. This was going to be fun.

**********

An hour later both Sentinels had finished reading Buffy’s school records. 

“I don’t get it,” Spike said. “I don’t see anything here that needs to be kept secret.”

“I don’t either,” Jim said. 

“There are no notes about Buffy’s private tutoring,” Blair said.

“Did you expect there would be?” Buffy asked.

“Hey, wait a minute, Buffy, it says you had empathic level and telepathic level testing every three months. I was only tested at the entrance to Guide School and just before graduation.”

“Yeah, he did that.” Buffy said. “I thought it was because he was trying to increase my telepathy. I got better at sensing danger but that was all. He wanted higher numbers.”

A uniformed officer walked over to Jim’s desk and handed him a 9x11 manila envelope. “Sentinel Ellison, this came for you in the mail.”

Jim took the manila package, “Thanks.”

He sniffed the envelope to check for any possible contaminants. He didn’t put it beyond Rayne to send a letter bomb. He couldn’t smell anything but paper and it certainly felt like the contents were paper. The return address says Booker. He tapped it to make sure Spike noticed and then cautiously opened the envelope and spilled the content onto his desk. It contained mostly financial paperwork. Jim handed half to Spike and they began going through it.

Buffy didn’t understand financial paperwork so she sat beside Spike watching over his shoulder. Blair Took a few pages from Jim’s pile and started to go through them

Blair looked puzzled. “Most of this has to do with an investment in a lab called ‘Tomorrow’s Child’. Sounds like a fertility clinic. Why would Booker send you this?”

“I have paperwork for shell corporations in the name of Freedman,” Jim said.

Buffy stood up and crossed her arms. “Freedman is one of the teachers I reported the abuse to, so this must be connected to me somehow. Seems weird though.”

“It looks like they were using shell companies to launder money and to finance the clinic. Rayne killed Freedman to cover his trail.”

“Okay, so let’s look at what we have,” Spike said. “Buffy was torchered in an attempt to increase her empathic and, or telepathic abilities. Rayne and some of the teachers were invested in a fertility clinic, they were using shell companies to hide their investments. The two teachers Buffy reported the abuse to are dead and Booker is miss…. ”

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” Buffy interrupted, she stood up and turned in circles. “They wanted to breed me.” 

Spike grabbed his guide and pulled her into a hug. “Buffy, It’s okay. Now we know what they're up to, we can stop it.”

Blair walked over to Buffy and put his hand on her shoulder sending her calming energy. “You’re not alone anymore Buffy, we’re your family now and Rayne isn’t going to get away with doing this to you.”

“Blair, don’t you see, it’s not just me. He’s building a fertility clinic. I’m only the tip of the iceberg. We don’t know how many other guides he’s hurt.”

“He picked the wrong place to do this,” Jim growled. “We will stop him. We need to give copies of this to Oz and let the Captain know what’s going on.”

**********

The day had been long, and except for the paperwork from the morning, mostly unproductive. Once Warren Mears was brought in for questioning he lawyered up. Oz was following what leads he had, but so far Rayne had been covering his tracks well. 

Blair knew things weren’t going well, His sentinel was tense so Blair suggested they go out for supper to their favorite Italian restaurant. Their supper was quiet, but delicious and filling. 

Jim’s truck was parked in the parking garage across the street. The group waited on the sidewalk for the traffic light to turn. The cars stopped and they were about to step off the curb when Buffy was hit with a danger warning. She swept Spike’s legs out from under him and Spike and Buffy fell to the ground as a shot rang out and crashed into the restaurant window behind them. Jim pulled Blair down and they crouched beside a parked car.

“Garage,” Jim Whispered to Spike as he pulled out his gun. .

“Buffy, can you tell what level he's on?” Spike asked, with his gun also drawn.

“I’m only 89% accurate but I get third floor.”

“Blair, you and Buffy get back in the restaurant, call for backup and make sure people stay down.” Jim grabbed Blair’s arm and turned him toward the restaurant.

“Wait a minute, What are you going to do?” Buffy asked.

“We’re going to take him out, Love,” Spike kissed Buffy’s hand. “Go with Blair, and stay down.”

**********

Gunn was one pissed off sniper. The bullet should have gone right between the sentinel’s eyes. Now he’d have to go plan B and shoot the sentinel when he came after him.

He disassembled his rifle and put it in its carrier; then he took out his hand gun, loaded a bullet in the chamber, and started jogging down the ramp. He stayed close to the parked cars, looking for a good vantage point. In took ten minutes for police to answer calls to this area of the city at this time of day. Backup would arrive soon. He hoped he could kill the sentinel before then and use the confusion to slip away. Gunn was excited and confident he could do the job and escape without notice.

**********

Jim and Spike used the traffic for cover and crossed the street. When they entered the garage Jim had the attendant block the exit with his car. 

Spike didn’t wait. With his hearing turned up he could hear the footfalls from above. Spike was a predator with a century of experience of hunting humans. He may not be able to remember the hunts on a conscious level, but the lessons he learned were still intact. Spike never lost track of Gunns progress down the ramp. He knew exactly where the sniper was when he chose a place to hide.

All of Jim’s senses were at their apex. He was a sentinel at his best and knew precisely where Spike and the shooter were. He started climbing the stairs to cut off the shooter should he try to run.

Gunn had chosen his ambush spot well, beside a full size SUV, but not well enough. Spike was as quiet as a cat as he snuck up on Gunn. He knew he couldn’t be silent when he vaulted over the van so he would have to be fast, but fast was never a problem for Spike.

Jim got to the second floor and opened the staircase door just in time to see Spike jump from the top of an SUV. 

The black man turned and leveled his hand gun at Spike, but before he could get a shot off Spike grabbed his wrist and snapped it. The gun fell from the shooter's hand and skidded away. 

Gunn fell to the floor with Spike on top of him. He punched Spike in the face with his good hand and Spike took the punch without a flinch, He quickly lifted the hitman’s head and twisted. Jim could hear the vertebrae break. Gunn died instantly.

******

Blair and Buffy stayed low and crept back into the restaurant. The patrons were under the tables.

“Stay down,” Blair yelled, “Backup will be here in a few minutes.”

Blair and Buffy crept to the kitchen to let the help know the situation. Still staying low they pushed through the swinging door and entered the kitchen. Blair was the first to notice the cook laying on the floor. Before he could warn Buffy he was shot with a dart.

Buffy didn’t need to be warned. Her hazard detection was on red alert. She jumped up and give one of the abductors a vicious kick to the knee. The abductor screamed and fell to his knees.

Blair tried to get up but only made it half way before falling to the floor unconscious.

Buffy was hit a moment later, but that didn’t stop her. Working on pure adrenaline she went after a second abductor.

Two of the men grabbed her from behind and held the struggling wild cat until the tranquilizer took effect. 

Buffy lost consciousness and sagged in their arms. They carried her out the back door where a van equipped with anti-sentinel methodology waited. They strapped Buffy to a gurney and drove away, certain that no sentinel would be able to track them.

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Comments are a steak and potatoes dinner for my muse.


	5. Chapter 5

The head EMT grabbed the rookie police officer’s arm. “Don’t call the sentinel yet. Let my partner get the guide awake and talking.”

“But that’s Detective Ellison’s guide.”

“If you call him over here before his guide is conscious, he’ll go into Blessed Protector Syndrome. Have you ever seen a sentinel in BPS?”

The EMT didn’t give the rookie a chance to answer. He kept talking, kept him listening.

“I’ve seen a sentinel strip his guide naked, looking for wounds. He might let me or my partner near his guide being medics, but you, or any of these civilians? He’d knock you unconscious if you got too close. Trust me, we don’t want that.”

The EMT attending to Blair looked up. “He’s coming around now.”

Blair gave a loud moan. 

“Can you sit up, guide?” the paramedic asked, helping him to a sitting position.

Blair took a deep breath. “How are you feeling?”

“My head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton, but I’m not in pain.”

Blair stretched to get his blood circulating.

“Your head will clear in five minutes, tops. You want us to call your sentinel or should we wait?”

“I’d rather wait. Don’t want to bother him when I’m okay. How’s Buffy?”

“Buffy?”

“The other guide; blonde female, about five-foot-two?”

“We didn’t find a female with that description.”

Blair got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Call my sentinel, now!”

**********

“Smells like there were four of them,” Jim said. 

Spike was circulating through the restaurant’s kitchen, looking for clues to determine what happened. 

“The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was Buffy kicking one of them in the knee. The guy screamed and went down,” Blair said. “Then, two of them grabbed her. I think I heard one of them yell just before everything went dark.”

The sentinels moved out the back door into the alley.

Jim growled.

“Anti-Sentinel Tracking Van. There’s nothing out here but the shadow of the tire tracks in the dust.”

“We have to find her before she kills them,” Spike said, heading down the alley. “She’ll never forgive herself for killing a human.”

He stopped at the sidewalk, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he turned north. “She’s this way.”

“I can’t smell anything,” Jim said. 

“I can feel her,” Spike said as he continued walking. “If she’s anywhere on this sodden planet, I can feel her. She’s northwest of here.”

“Jim, you better get the truck,” Blair said.

He turned and laid a comforting hand on Spike’s arm.

“We’ll wait for Jim; it will only take a minute,” Blair assured him. “Spike, you don’t need to worry about Buffy killing anyone. She’s not a warrior guide. We only had basic self-defense in guide school and those guys, they were professionals. They don’t want to hurt her. Rayne wants her in good health for breeding. We have time to find her.”

Spike was staring down the street, looking at something Blair couldn’t see.

“Buffy’s capable of taking out more than four of those wankers. I’ve seen her…”

Spike paused, suddenly losing his train of thought. Why had he thought he had seen her fight? Why did he think her capable of killing four highly- trained soldiers? The word ‘initiative’ popped into his mind.

Spike turned his head and looked at Blair. “The best in her self-defense class, I’d wager.”

“Yeah, she was.”

“Rayne had to use a taser on her to stop her,” Spike whispered, more to himself than to Blair.

Jim pulled up with the truck and Blair and Spike got in.

@@@@@@@@@@

Buffy found herself standing behind a counter. The lights were bright, and she had something heavy on her head, while an unpleasant smell permeated the air. A bleach-blond haired Spike stood in front of her.

“You have to get out of here, love. This place will kill you.” 

**********

Buffy woke up, strapped to a hospital gurney. She tried to shake the heavy feeling from her head but had no success. The air was thick, stale and smelled a lot like a dirty public restroom. She wrinkled her nose and tried to take shallow breaths.

Shaking her head once again, she opened her eyes. In the dim light she could just make out a chain link ceiling and she found it also surrounded her on all sides. There would be no climbing out. 

Ethan Rayne had her again.

Despair began to creep in, until she remembered the dream; it was her sentinel, she was sure of it, with bleach blond hair and blue eyes so full of care and love for her.

He had told her to get out. She couldn’t let him down, so she reached out with her empathic awareness. Feeling no one nearby, she wiggled and was able to scooch up enough to get one arm out from under a strap, then the other. Finally, she reached the buckles and released herself. 

She took note of her prison. The cement floor was cold and dirty. Whoever abducted her had taken her shoes and socks and they were nowhere to be seen. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of walking around the place barefoot, but there was nothing to be done about it.

One corner of the cage had a camp toilet, with a roll of toilet tissue on the floor beside it. There was no water for drinking or washing anywhere in the cage.

Off to her right, there was a light coming from beneath a door that was likely an office. She heard voices and they amped up her hazard detection. She knew she had to get out of the cage and soon.

She walked over to the gate and examined the latch; there was just enough room for her to get her fingers through the space between the chain link wall and the door edge. The lock was a rectangular box with ten small buttons.

She put her finger over one of the buttons and tried to use her hazard detection to determine if it was one of the code numbers. After the third try, she got the code right and the door unlocked.

It was easy to move quietly with no boots, so she left the cage and decided to put as much distance between her and the office as she could, hoping to find an exit. She hugged the walls as much as possible, but some were covered with mold, so she avoided touching them.

The further she moved from the cage, the darker it got. There were large and small pipes running along the opposite wall that she decided to follow. If it got too dark to see, she could follow them by touch.

A short time later, she came to a door that led to an outdoor area. The air was better, less heavy, but it still carried an icky smell.

A nearly full moon helped her get her bearings. There were two large cement pits the size of Olympic swimming pools with a walkway that ran between them. Aside from some scummy rainwater, they were empty. Buildings surrounded the area, but across the way, there were two doorways. She chose one and went through the door into another dark area.

**********

Ethan Rayne arrived at the deserted sewage treatment plant and parked next to the abduction van.

“This place isn’t very sanitary,” Dr. Newton noted as he undid the passenger seatbelt.

“You’re not doing surgery. You’re taking blood and giving her fertility shots. The smell will keep sentinels away. In a week, we can move her to the lab.”

“It’s dangerous to keep her here. There will be mold spores in the air that can cause respiratory disease.”

“Then get out of the damn car and keep her healthy!”

“I didn’t bring personal protection equipment for her. She’ll need masks, enough for the whole time she’s here, and a clean place to eat. Is there a shower?”

“This is the best I could find. Deal with it,” Rayne said.

He stepped out of the car and walked into the building without looking to see if the doctor was following.

**********

Rayne found the four men he had hired for the abduction sitting around an old tin desk, playing poker.

“What are you doing in here?” Rayne growled through clenched teeth. “You’re supposed to be guarding the bitch.”

“She’s still sleeping it off and the air out there is foul,” the head of the team told him. “’sides, we took her shoes.”

“You’re getting paid to do a job, not to play cards.”

Rayne stormed out the door, followed by the doctor. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer light, but once they did, he became furious.

The cage was empty.

“Where the hell is she?” he screamed.

@@@@@@@@@@

“Turn right, up ahead,” Spike said. “She’s in there.”

Jim pulled onto the narrow road and turned off the headlights and the engine, letting the truck roll to a stop.

The three men got out of the truck and Jim went to the back and opened a lockbox in the cargo bed. He took out two ka-bar knives and handed one to Spike. 

Jim kept his voice low. “Blair won’t be needing this. I only have one assault rifle. Do you want it?”

“Won’t need the rifle. Up close and personal is more my style,” Spike whispered as he took the knife and attached it to his belt.

A shiver went down Blair’s back. Spike’s voice was pure predator. He knew sentinel law; abducting a sentinel’s guide was a capital offence. If the men inside did anything but lay flat on their stomachs and surrender, Jim and Spike were within their rights to kill them. 

The breeze shifted and an unpleasant odor wafted through the air.

“Better turn down your scent dials,” Blair whispered to the sentinels.

“Already done,” said Jim. “I need you to drive back, at least ten miles and call the captain for backup. These guys are pros. They may have a cell phone scanner, so we can’t risk making a call from here. The keys are in the truck. Wait five minutes, then go.”

Jim turned to Spike and nodded. They didn’t need words; these were two sentinels at their best. Evolution had brought them to this pinnacle of existence, with one overwhelming drive: protect your pack. To the modern-day sentinel, the city or town the sentinel lived in was his territory and the people who lived in his territory were his tribe, but there were times like this that civilization was stripped away, and the sentinel born of the jungle ruled.

Jim followed Spike who took the lead. They crept down the hallway as silent as two big cats. Spike could feel the predator behind him but felt no worry as his sense told him the predator was pack and therefore, no threat. His only concern was Buffy. He could feel her ahead and then, he heard the voice.

“Where the hell is she?”

The two sentinels froze, their breathing shallow, their minds focused on their sense of hearing. Both sentinels heard the footfalls of men running and automatically calculated the force of the steps on the cement floor. The information the predators needed was automatically given to them without conscious question or calculation; there were four men, one with a slight limp.

“The cage was locked,” one of them insisted.

“Spread out and find the bitch.”

The last command was delivered with cold, hard, seething anger. That’s when the two sentinels realized that Rayne was in the building.

Spike lifted his hand and waved them forward.

When they got to the office, they stayed low and looked out the window into the larger room. Two men stood in front of a cage; one pacing, muttering obscenities about Buffy, the other, standing still, clutching what looked like a medical bag.

The two sentinels slipped out of the office and melted into the shadows of opposite walls.

Spike was the first to find one of his quarries. The man must not have been a sentinel, as Spike had no problem coming up behind him and swiftly breaking his neck. He held the man to keep him from falling and quietly laid the body on the floor. 

Jim was steps away from the first of his prey when the man called out.

“Clear!”

There was an answer of “Clear!” from the other side of the room and the target began walking away.

Jim quickly caught up with him and pulled his knife across the man’s throat. The cut was deep, slicing the victim’s voice box so that he couldn’t make a sound as Jim held him, waiting for him to bleed out, listening for his heartbeat to stop.

The remaining two abductors, unaware that their comrades were taken down, opened the door to the courtyard. Spike and Jim slipped in behind them. The fight was short lived. Spike, once again, broke the abductor’s neck. Jim’s fight lasted a few seconds longer, but, in the end, the abductor was dead from a knife strike through the eye socket and into the brain.

As soon as Rayne saw the attack, he ran. The doctor laid down on the floor and screamed, “I surrender!”

Spike followed after Rayne and left Jim to cuff the doctor and call Blair and Simon to let them know there was no rush for backup.

Spike caught up to Rayne in the dark hallway, a few feet short of the exit. He held Rayne against the wall with an arm across his chest.

Rayne tried to push him away, but Spike was fast. He drove his knife into Rayne’s right thigh and drew the knife across Rayne’s groin.

Rayne screamed.

Spike put his hand over Rayne’s mouth and whispered in his ear. “For Buffy, you dickless bastard.”

He held Rayne for a minute, letting him feel the pain as he bled out. “Would have liked to play a bit, but I have to go find my guide.”

Spike drew his knife across Rayne’s neck and let him fall to the floor. Then, he went to get Buffy.

She wasn’t difficult to find since he could feel where she was hiding. She emerged from under a large pipe and threw herself into Spike’s arms. 

“I knew you’d save me,” Buffy told him.

“I’ll never desert you, love,” Spike told her as he stroked his fingers through her hair. “Every life, I save you.”

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I hope you like this chapter. I'm looking forward to your comments.


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